Need Citrus Tree Help

12 years ago

My Valencia orange tree has fruit on it but the leaves look terrible. I have fed it on schedule and sprayed it with minor elements but it didn't do much good. What else should I do so it would look like a healthy tree?

Also, I have a Key Lime tree that has not had any fruit for two years. I know that it wants to be kept on the "hungry side" so it has not received as much fertlizer as the orange. The leaves don't look very good and some are curled but I'm not sure what to spray for or with.I would appreciate some help from you experts.

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Comments (8)

starryrider
12 years ago
Looks like insects to me.
You can buy Bayer Advanced Fruit Citrus and Vegetable Insect Killer. It is a systemic product that the growers use. It will last a year and take care of all the insects. It doesn't transfer well through the flowers or into the fruit, leaving that pesticide free.
bamboo_rabbit
12 years ago
The curled leaves are definitely leaf miners, you can see their tracks just under the surface of the leaf...just ignore them. The miners always bother the younger trees and while it looks unsightly it does not bother the tree much.

The top picture looks like maybe a problem with the roots, the tree isn't mulched is it? How old is the tree in the top picture?
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Thank you jesse09 I will definitely kept that in mind with the Vitalizer. Thank you ocrelaris for your advice also on the fertilizer and soil. I will definately try in springtime to find the 5-1-1. Its hard to look for anything like that where I live. I might have to purchase online. I feel great that you tell me my trees look good. That was one of my major concerns. I worry about them and only want to help them grow healthy and strong. And of course have fruit. My mom had noticed that the tango, lime and one of the navel trees are protected from one side by my gaming board. They really do not have leaf loss verses the other three on the opposite side. They don't have a barrier as in wall next to them. So those two lemon and that other navel trees are the one losing more leaves. So I'm wondering maybe they are getting some sort of draft. Once I place the pallets I will be able to tell if that Is helping. Which I hope it will. Because now my navel that had the one fruit had dropped it. Thank you poncirusguy for your input. I will give that a try too. To see if it will help my trees. Right now I just want to help them stop dropping their leaves and fruit. The two so far that have been doing well with holding on to the fruit is the lemon that you saw in picture and my tango with the bigger fruit.
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Sounds like an urban nightmare. What can you do?? First I would look for 2 or 3 trees of the variety you like best, 3 year old trees; and plant them in a part of the garden where you are in control. In a couple of years the new trees will begin to produce; and when they are big enough, you can let go of the older trees. Second, I would definitely prune back any limbs touching the new fence; after that you can reduce the height and let in more light at the same time using a method called "drop crotch pruning"... you can google that and easily learn how to do it. Personally, for oranges and grapefruits of that size, I would not lower the height by more than maybe 5-7 feet. You can repeat the procedure in subsequent years, if you wish more change. Next, give your trees a big shot of a good citrus fertilizer applied at the drip line/fence line and watered in deeply. Lastly, being in Florida, I would treat your trees with imidacloprid foliar application and/or soil drench 3 times per year; ask your local nurseryman or home supply store for the best product to use. Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide that is also topically active; but enters the plant tissues, killing any insect that sucks on or chews the leaves, without killing the beneficials. Unfortunately, it will not affect your seemingly obnoxious or uncaring neighbor.
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Wait until your Spring, when both your tree and the rootstock are actively growing. Ask your local nurseryman for a good rootstock for your area; get 10; then do 10 T-buds or chip buds; and if you do them carefully, you should get at least 2 or 3 to take. When they are strong and growing well, I would take out the old tree or leave it and put the new tree(s) in another place. You can prune the old tree quite heavily, if you want to save it; as long as the trunk is solid and healthy; it will grow new shoots. BTW, one of the reasons the oranges from the old tree taste so good is the age of the tree; the new grafted trees should produce fruit in a year or two and they will be "clones" of the existing tree. Be warned, though... fruits from the new trees may not taste as good for a few years.
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Looks like your trees might be suffering from some bark disease. You need to remove the landscape rock from near the trunk out a couple feet, it could be trapping unneeded moisture too close to the trunk and be causing that bark splitting. Can you take a close up of the trunk on both trees and post the photos? The one leafless branch on the upper photo looks like it's had twig die back, trim it back to where the branch looks green which could be at the node where it grew from. What is your grow zone? How often do you water and fertilize? Evan
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regine_Z 10 Fl gw
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the advice. The orange tree is about 10 years old and it is not mulched. I do get a lot of weeds in that area because I can't always keep up with the weeding and then they go to seed and I start again. Maybe it is the
"green mulch" that is causing the problem.
Thanks again.
bamboo_rabbit
12 years ago
Regine,

Where do you live exactly? Is it near the coast? Reason I ask is trees will sometimes look like that from salt exposure from either the mist or from salt in the irrigation water. You can also get that mottled color from too much chemical (salt) fertilizer. Sometimes people give too much fertilizer the tree gets yellow from that so they give even more fertilizer thinking it is still a nitrogen deficiency.
regine_Z 10 Fl gw
Original Author
12 years ago
I am about 4 miles from the ocean but we don't get any mist. We've had a well for irrigation for 20 years but this is the first year the tree has looked like that. Anybody have a solution to both of my problems?
izharhaq
12 years ago
regine, have you used Epsom salt? 1 tblspoon per a gallon of water weekly will easily remove the chlorotic leaf symptoms as I understand from your first pic..
regine_Z 10 Fl gw
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Izhar, I had forgotten about using Epsom Salts, but I still don't know why my Key Lime tree, which used to bear fruit no longer is.
floridafarmer
12 years ago
I have three full grown Key lime trees Regine. I live in Satellite Beach on a canal off the Banana River. Have you done any severe pruning on them lately? They will not fruit good the next year or so after a good pruning. Then they will have a flush of blooms and you will have the best crop in years. Bob

Need Citrus Tree Help

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Comments (8)

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